Expert: Andrew Crome - 11/28/2006

Question
My Xbox 360 keeps on freezing. It is only a couple months old. All the discs i use are either new or clean, so it has nothing to do with scratched discs.  What do I do? and how do i fix it?

Answer
Hi Joe,

When is it freezing? Is it any particular time in the game, say with a disk read error? Or is it totally random? Some freezes are normal (unfortunately), and certain games have more of a reputation than others (Oblivion, for example)

My 360 is on the way out due to a faulty DVD drive, which powers down and fails randomly in the middle of games, so it could be the same with your console. Alternatively, it could be a problem with the hardware. Try all the obvious steps such as unplugging the cables and the hard drive, then plugging them back in. I know that's obvious, but you might have a loose connection and it's at least worth a try.

If this doesn't work (and from experience it probably won't, sadly) call MS tech support. Their number is 1-800-4MY-XBOX if you're in the States, or 0800 587 1102 if you're in the UK. I had my first experience with the "support" line yesterday, and it was horrendous, so be warned that it might not go smoothly. They will (if they manage to understand the problem!) probably ask you to send the console off to them for repair. This of course raises the tricky question of warranty - it's a full year out of the box in the UK, but only 90 days in the US. Hopefully yours will still be covered.

I'm sorry I couldn't solve your problem, but wish you all the best with Xbox support!

Kind Regards

Andy